Spring-type rocking chair



y 1956 c. SCHNEEDER 2,746,518

SPRING-TYPE ROCKING CHAIR Filed Dec. 1 1950 CA/AEL E25 Sewn/505e,

INVENTOR.

ATTOQA/EY.

SPRING-TYPE ROCKING CHAIR v Charles Schneider, Los Angeles, Calif.Application Decemberl, 1950, Serial No. 198,592 1 Claim. (Cl. 155-54This invention relatesto an improved construction for spring-type'rocking'chairs'. In particular, the invention relates to an article ofmanufacture utilized for connecting a stationary base and a chairframein freely yieldable forward and backward rocking motion and limitedlateral motion. I u

-Prior spring-type constructions for resiliently mounted rockable chairframes employed a stationary base and a'T chair frame mounted therefromby'various arrangements of suspension springs. Some priorfspring-typerockers employed a spring arrangement which was complex and diflicult toassemble. Such priorconstruction usually required thatends of thespringarra'ngement be attached to front, rear, and side rails of a chairframe. In addition; many of the prior spring-typerockers were providedwith a seat having relatively great height above the floor because ofspace required for the spring type construction used. Inge neral, priorspring-type rockers provided a rocking motion which was relatively stifiand which was quite different from the motion provided by a curvedrocking member contacting a floor surface. The primary object of thisinvention is to design and provide an improved spring-type rockingchairhaving a soft, relatively free, yieldable*rocking motion forwardlyand backwardly and a' lirriited lateral motion.

Anobject of this invention'is to design and provide as an article ofmanufacture a spring-type unit or assembly which may be readily utilizedfor connecting a the attachment to said base being centrally locatedwith with respect tothe floor surface.

chair frame 'to a stationary base in rockable relation.

The construction of'the spring-type unit particularly facilitatesinstallation and assembly of such a rocking chair. f f 1 1 Anotherobject of this invention is to provide, as an article of manufacture, aspring-type unitfor'use'in a rocking chair construction, wherein theunit is readily utilized on chairs of different width, depth and height.

A further object of this invention is to design and provide an improvedspring-type rockingchair wherein a' pair of identical spring-type unitsare provided for connecting a chair frame to a stationary base in such amanner that the chair when rocking is quiet and virtually noiseless andincludes a construction which .virtually' of this invention comprises anelongated forwardly and rearwardly extending rigid member adapted to beconvenicntly attached to a side rail of a chair frame intermediate thefront and rear ends thereof and in spaced relation thereto. At each endthe member is provided ber.

2 ,746,518 Patented May 22, 1956 with an inwardly extending stub arm. Arigid upstanding support member is disposed in virtually the samevertical plane as that of the end, portions of the stub arms and isspaced inwardly from the elongated mem- A connection is provided at eachend of the rigid support member for spring means whichare connected attheir other end to the'stub arms, said connections being insubstantially the same horizontal plane as that determined by theelongated member. The rigid support member is adapted to be suitablyattached to a base,

respect to the spaced apart springs. e

Other objects and advantages of thisinvention will be readily apparentfrom the following description of the drawings. s i

In the drawings: i

Fig. l'is a perspective view of a chair embodying this inventionillustrating in diagrammatic lines the rockable motion which theembodiment of the invention provides.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view, takenin a horizontal plane indicated bythe line IIII of Fig. 1 showing a top view of a spring unit embodyingthis invention.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary side view of the spring unit shown inFig. 2, the view being taken outwardly from avertical planelongitudinally bisecting the chair shown in Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is an end view of the spring unit taken from a'vertical planeindicated by line IV-IV of Fig. 3.

Fig, 5 is a fragmentary view of a modification of the spring unit shownin Fig. 2.

Referring particularly to Fig. l, thereis shown a partiallyupholsteredstationary type rocking chair 9 in which rocking movement is affordedwithout travel of thechair The rocking movement afforded by the novelspring unit of this invention, generally indicated at 10, Fig. 2,principally provides a forward and rearward rocking motion as indicatedin Fig. l by a and a respectively. The spring type unit embodied in thisinvention also affords a limited lateral rocking movement indicated by band b.

The-chair 9 illustrated in Fig. 1 includes a lower box shaped chairframe, generally indicated atll, having a pair of parallel laterallyspaced side rails 12 and connecting front and rear rails 13 and 14respectively. The outer surface of said rails may be suitablyupholstered. The rails provide a hollow frame which is normallypositioned above and in partially enclosing relation to a base,generally indicated at 15. The base 15 may comprise forwardly andrearwardly extending base elements 16 each disposed adjacent andinwardly of one side of the chair. The elements 16 may or may not beinterconnected by a transverse member (not shown).

The spring unit 10 comprises a forwardlyand rearwardly extending rigidelongated angle section member 17. The member 17 is adapted to beattached to a side rail 12 by suitable securing means such as woodscrews 18 spaced along the length of member 17. The angle section member17 is disposedwith a flange portion 19 depending downwardlyand a flangeportion 29 extending inwardly and disposed in a substantially horizontalplane. The "depending portion 19 provides a relatively large outersurface area for seating contact against the inner surface of side rail12.

Member 17 may normally be positioned for securement to the side rail 12with its center corresponding with the longitudinal center of side rail12. It is understood that the member 17 may be positioned off centereither forwardly or rearwardly as desired in order to obtain aparticular desired rocking motion, or member 17 may be disposed ifdesired in a' plane at a slight angle to; the horizontal. It should benoted that the ends of member 17 are spaced a considerable distance fromthe 17. The arm 21 may be integrally formed with an 'upstanding lug orear 22 adapted to seat against the inner surface of side rail 12, saidear being secured to said rail by wood screws 23. The arm 21 maybereinforced against bending by a generally rectangular plate 24 overlyingthat portion of arm 21 which is above the horizontal portion of member17. The reinforcing plate 24, arm 21, and horizontal portion 20 maybesecured together by suitable means such as spaced rivets 25 or bolt andnut assemblies.

The inner end of each cantilever arm 21 is provided with an upwardlydirected V-shaped crimped portion 26 adapted to provide a connection forone end of a coil spring 27. The crimped portions 26 of arms 21 arealigned and lie in virtually the same plane as the horizontal portion 20of member 17. Obviously other means may be employed to connect an end ofthe spring to the arm; as, for example, an aperture, slot, or hook.

I Between the spaced arms 21 may be provided a rigid upstandingchannel-like member 28, said member 28 comprising a vertically disposedcenter web 29, a bottom horizontally and outwardly directed flange 30,and an upper horizontal and outwardly directed flange 31. The bottomflange 30 is adapted to be secured as by spaced nut and bolt assemblies32 to a base element 16. The

upper flange 31 presents a top flat surface lying substantially in theplane of the horizontal portion 20 of member 17 for affording a rigidflat seat for a flat elongated rigid strap 33 extending parallel tomember 17 and secured to flange 31 as by rivets 34.

Strap 33 is aligned with the crimped portions 26 and projects beyond web29 in spaced relation to portions 26. Each end of strap 33 is providedwith an aperture 35 It should be particularly noted that the provisionof a unitary assembly as embodied in spring unit 10 is readily adaptedto a chair frame of any size, width or depth.

The cantilever arms 21 and the provision of upstanding lugs or ears 22provide a simple and effective manner of connecting the chair frame asto a base element to afford a limited lateral rocking motion. Thedisposition of forces acting on the spring unit 10, when rocking,requires that arms 21 act in the manner of cantilever beams. of each arm21, serves to reinforce the arm against such cantilever action and alsostrengthens the connection of the arm to the horizontal portion 20 byreducing shear forces imposed upon the rivets 25.

In Fig. 5 a modification is shown of the connection of the inner ends ofsprings 27 to a rigid upstanding member 40. The upstanding rigid membermay comprise an angle bracket having an upstanding rectangular shapedweb 41 and a horizontally extending flange 42 adapted to be secured byspaced nut and bolt assemblies 43 to a base element 16. I

The upper portion ,of web 41 carries a substantially rigid wire member44 of heavy metal section having for receiving one end of an adjacentcoil spring 27 for connection thereto.

The coil springs 27 extend between and connect the rigid member 28 withthe elongated member 17. The springs 27 are held by their connection tocrimped portions 26 and strap 33 in axial alignment with their axeslying in virtually the same horizontal plane as member 17. The spacingof the connections of the inner ends of springs 27 to strap 33 and thespacing between the inner and outer ends of each spring 27 aresymmetrically arranged so that the spring unit 10 may be. employedonveither the left or right side rail 12. 1

The assembly of a base and chair frame embodying a spring unit 10 issimple and facilitated by the handling of the assembly 10 as a unit. Aspring unit 10 may be first secured to a side rail 12 byattachingtheretomember 17 including. ears 22 by wood screws. The rigid upstandingmember 28 may then be conveniently bolted to a base element 16. Sincethe spring unit. 10 is handled as a complete unitary assembly, it willbe readily apparent that the assembly of chairs employing this unit isvery eflicient, economical, and substantially reduces assembly time.

When a chair embodying the spring unit 10. described above is rocked,the chairframe is rockably movable by its suspension from springs 27 Theconnections between the springs and the centrally disposed rigid member17 and member 28 permit relative angular movement between members 17 and28. The rocking motion afforded is substantially similar to the rockingmotion afforded by rocking chair employing curved rocking elements. Thismotion is provided by the specific relation of the spacing between theinner ends of the springs and by the spacing of the connections of theinner and .outer ends. of each of the springs, the distance between theopposed inner ends of the springs being slightly greater than the lengthof each spring 27. Such relationship affords a soft, yield able, freelyfloating, rocking. motion.

spaced intermediate flattened portions 45. Each portion 45 is perforatedfor reception of a rivet 46 which extends through web 41 forrigidly-securing wire member 44 to the web 41. Each end ofwire member 44may be provided with a suitable eye 47 affording a connection to theinnerend-ofa spring 27. The axis of the springs 27 v and the wire member44 lie in substantially the same horizontal plane as that of thehorizontal portion 20 of the member 17. The spacing between the eyes 47of wire member '44 may be substantially the same as the spacing betweenthe apertures 35 provided between opposite ends of strap 33.- Theoperation of a unit embodying the modification shown in Fig. 5 issubstantially the same as that described with respect to Fig. 1.

It will be understood'that in some chair constructions it maybedesirable to place the base elements 16 outwardly of the chair frame.The spring unit 10 is readily adapted to such change in construction byreversing the unit from the position shown byj turning about a verticalaxis so that the member 17 may be secured to the frame on an outersurface thereof and the rigid member 28 may be secured to the baseelement. Thesymmetrical arrangement of the unit 10 greatly facilitatesmaking of this change without affecting the rocking action of the chair.

In another instance, it may be desirable to install unit 10 in an upsideposition, min a position attained by turning the ,unitthrough about ahorizontal axis. In this case'the-rigid member 28 would be connected toa chair frame and the member 17 to a base element.

It will be understood that various modifications and changes may be madein the arrangement of the rigid membersof' thespring unit or assemblyand all such modifications coming within the scope of the appended claimare embraced thereby. I

I claim: An article of manufacture for a spring-type rocking chairhaving a chair frame with opposed side rails and a base forinterconnecting one side rail to the base, comprising: a pair ofelongated rigid members in closely adjacentparallel relation and insubstantially the same plane, one of said members being longer that theother; a 'laterally'extending stub arm carried by each end of the longermember, said shorter member lying between said stub arms; a pair ofsprings with their axes in alignment with the axis of the shortermember, each spring connecting one end of said shorter member with an.adjacent stub arm; means carried by the longer member for connecting thesame to one side rail intermediate the ends of the side rail; and meanscarried by said shorter member for connecting said shorter member to thebase. at a central The reinforcing plate 24, disposed on top 7 portionthereof, each of said stub arms comprising a flat 1,281,921 EtheringtonOct. 15, 1918 strap having a V-shaped crimped portion to form a recess1,379,076 Barnes May 24, 1921 to receive and hold an end of one of saidsprings. 2,164,163 Piper June 27, 1939 V V 2,273,286 Roberti Feb. 17,1942 References Cited in the file of this patent 5 2,607,397 SchneiderAug. 19, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENTS 360,589 Harrington L. Apr; 5, 1887

